Cleveland Palestine Film Festival

Welcome to the 2026 Cleveland Palestine Film Festival! Join us at Lakewood Civic Auditorium for a cinematic celebration of Palestinian culture and storytelling. Immerse yourself in a diverse selection of films that capture the beauty, resilience, and complexity of Palestine. From thought-provoking documentaries to captivating dramas, this festival offers a unique opportunity to explore the rich cinematic landscape of Palestine. Don't miss this chance to experience the power of storytelling through film. Enjoy our beautifully curated vendors, films, and a Q&A Discussion!

SHORTS

Don't Be Long, Little Bird (2025) - Reem Jubran

I Know You Can Hear Me (2025) - Yousef Salhi

FEATURES

Palestine 36 (2025) - Annemarie Jacir

It Must Be Heavan (2025) - Elia Suleiman

Info: Welcome! Enjoy our specially curated vendors with artisan crafts, drink, and snacks. Vendors will be open throughout the night.

Info: Take your seats, opening remarks.

Info: A rebellious, spirited young woman named Rima accidentally travels through time to 1930s Palestine, where she spends a few days with a similarly spirited young woman…her great-grandmother when she was her age. Rima desperately looks for a way home, aka the present, the place she originally desired to escape from.

Info: 1936. As villages across Mandatory Palestine
rise against British colonial rule, Yusuf drifts
between his rural home and the restless energy
of Jerusalem, longing for a future beyond the
growing unrest. But history is relentless. With
rising numbers of Jewish immigrants escaping
antisemitism in Europe, and the Palestinian
population uniting in the largest and longest
uprising against Britain’s 30-year dominion,
all sides spiral towards inevitable collision in a
decisive moment for the British Empire and the
future of the entire region.

Info: Reem Jubran, director of Don’t Be Long, Little Bird, will be in a moderated discussion about her film.

Info: After Salim is released from Pr*son after twenty
years, he stays alone at home, haunted by
nightmares, while Cosette tries to reconnect with him
and understand why he’s isolating himself, hoping to
help him face his past and rebuild their relationship.
Will she succeed?

Info: Elia Suleiman escapes from Palestine seeking an alternative homeland, only to find that Palestine is trailing behind him. The promise of a new life turns into a comedy of errors: however far he travels, from Paris to New York.

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Host or Publisher Palestinian American Heritage Society